Tech Check: 5 fun photo apps for the holidays

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HOUSTON—For most people, the holiday season kicks off next week as families gather for Thanksgiving.

If you’re looking to get creative in how you capture and share the moments, there are plenty of apps for that. Most of them let you share your resulting creations on Facebook and Twitter, but of course you might choose to actually print them out and use them as this year’s family Christmas card.

(When you search for these apps or similar ones in your app store, make sure you search for a “Lite” version. This will allow you to try out most of the features before you drop $.99 on it)

== Camera Fun -for iPhone | for Android ==This app adds all those special effects to your smartphone’s camera that you wish it came with. You can turn your family photos into sketches or paintings, or you can get really weird with it and pinch/distort the pics.

== Holiday Picture It ==This has plenty of holiday clip art you can use to modify your photos. It has you covered from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.

== Face Swap - for iPhone | for Android ==You might say this app is fun, or you might say it’s just creepy. It lets you take two faces in a photo and then swap them. You can switch baby with dad and mom with dad – however fun you want to make it.

== Color Splash ==Color Splash creates really cool effects, taking out the colors you specify and leaving behind the ones you want. For instance, your whole family could wear red sweaters for your Christmas card and then everything else in the photo is black and white.

== Microsoft Photosynth ==This is a free iPhone app that creates 360-degree images. As your family is gathered you can wave your camera around the room (slowly), and it’ll create a big virtual image. This is more than just a panoramic photo like your iPhone 5 creates. This is a virtual image you can later look around in -- up and down -- recreating that family moment.

If you have another app to recommend, comment below this story and let everyone know!